From May 25 to 29, 2026, the “RENKEI Early Career Researcher (ECR) Collaboration Lab 2026” was held at Sophia University and Tohoku University. Participating in the event from Keio University were Vice-President Motohiro Tsuchiya, Associate Professor Yoshinobu Takei (Faculty of Law), and Associate Professor Yasuhito Fukushima (Faculty of Policy Management).
RENKEI is a partnership between leading research-intensive universities in the United Kingdom and Japan, which aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and strengthen research collaboration between the two countries. For the 2025 fiscal year, Vice-President Tsuchiya of Keio University served as the co-chair.
RENKEI hosts annual events for researchers from member universities. This year’s joint lab was organized under the theme “Beyond Boundaries: Exploring New Academic Frontiers of Space.” The lab aimed to provide an international peer networking opportunity for ECRs, to stimulate UK-Japan bilateral partnership working, and support collaborative research.
“Space,” the main theme of this event, extends beyond outer space and refers to a new frontier of human activity in the twenty-first century to domains such as ocean space and cyber space. Through five days of dialogue, researchers from both countries engaged in active, interdisciplinary discussions that transcended disciplines and nationalities. They explored the potential brought by technological innovations in these three spaces (such as satellite and rocket technologies, deep-sea resource extraction, and digital networks), as well as complex shared challenges including environmental conservation, legal responsibility and liability, and governance across national borders.
Vice-President Tsuchiya also attended the RENKEI Steering Committee meeting held at Tohoku University on May 29 to discuss the overall management and future of RENKEI. This event proved to be a highly meaningful opportunity that will lead to more international collaborative research, as well as the formation of close networks and long-term partnerships among UK and Japanese universities.